Heraclitus said: "If it were not for injustice, men would not know justice."
I say:
"If it were not for pain, men would not know love."
Am I right, or am I wrong? Discuss.
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15 comments:
Hey Chris, let's declare Heraclitus the man of the moment. :-)
Obviously both you and the man himself are right, as obviously you both seem to be wise men. If everyting was love and nothing was pain, love would not be anything special. Good things can only shine bright in relation to dark things- if everything was good, then that would be nothing but normal. It's the whole yin and yang thing. You're onto it, Chris.
Well, for the ones in prison, sure.
Do you mean pain as in physical pain? Or do you mean "suffering" which incorporates alot of different ways?
Ah, well, eating of the Tree of Knowledge meant the knowledge of all good AND all evil.
& the entire universe is made up of positive/negative contrasts.
The ultimate expression of love is sacrifice
of oneself for another, whether it be my desire for the last piece of bacon on the plate at the breakfast table, or the best seat in the living room when getting ready to watch a movie, or something of greater magnitude such as our Savior taking the punishment for our sins on the cross. Since God is love and he chose to express that love through pain (Jesus), then I would agree that that is the most profound way in which we recognize love.
So why didn't I get the last piece of bacon this morning?
I like Kalil Gibran's take on love - that it is a two edged sword..."Though the sword hidden among his pinions may wound you"...but that we should still follow "him". I never seem to be able to resist the idea that I may fall in love...what more can make one feel so alive, yet hold the possibility for pain? The only reason I disagree with Hiraclitus is that I believe some people find love and are never hurt by it. It does hold the possibility of love, not neccesarily the fulfillment of it.
Great topic, Chris. I was going to blog about the Joy of Football Season starting!! :O)
Love is patient, Love is kind...love ain't shit if you have expierenced pain to make you appreciate the love you are given and that in which you have the ability to give
Right. Also, if there were no sickness you would not value health.
So do we define everything based only on context, that is, on how an object or construct distinguishes itself from the surrounding? That works much of the time, but in ethics and existential matters it becomes difficult to impossible. Does love only exist when there is "ant-love",e.g. hate? Thus the Bible avoids that route by defining love only with the actions of God in seeking a relationship and working through history to save and care for humans and all of creation.
No, I specifically specified pain instead of hate. I was not defining it by differentiating it from the opposite. What is not hate can be apathy, too.
Love is empathy, and I do not think you can truly be empathetic until you have felt pain yourself. Love is sacrific and it is not sacrific unless it is painful ("give until it hurts").
Giving when it is not painful is just preference ("I want you to have this").
That is why parents who only buy their children things do not love them. Kids need to see the parents sacrifice themselves to know that they love them.
Well, one must also know the context in which Heraclit made his statement and the context in which you applied it to love and pain.
If all of creation - humans included - were as it was all intended to be from the beginning, there would be no pain, injustice, hate, etc. So perhaps certain parts of creation must endure injustice, or even pain, in order to contribute to the realigning of other sections of creation to the dynamic state of existence for which it all was created. The challenge is often having the perception, foresight, and longsuffering to realize and live out such principles.
Yep, so right. We can't truly experience anything unless we know the opposite of that thing. I'm hoping that's why I have very little money right now, so that when I'm filthy rich I'll know it for sure.
isnt there a song that goes; "love HURTs" ?
How about: if it wasn't for dentists, men would not know pain?
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